


Dare to be in the Company of Those Stronger Than You

by theharellan



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Fan Banter, Gen, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21672595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theharellan/pseuds/theharellan
Summary: A series of fan-written drabbles I've done over the years for Solas and various Dragon Age characters. Currently features only canon Inquisition characters who join or travel with the Inquisition, but will be updated with non-Inquisition canons and potentially OC banter.
Kudos: 6





	Dare to be in the Company of Those Stronger Than You

_Sera & Solas_

**Solas:** I could not help but notice what you were drawing at breakfast.  
**Sera:** What? I wasn’t drawing anything.

_(if Sera is romanced)  
_

**Solas:** You captured our Inquisitor’s likeness well.  
**Sera:** Better than you could.

_(otherwise)_

**Solas:** There was no mistaking Dagna’s likeness. What were you carrying?  
**Sera:** A bowblade. It’s not a thing yet, but if anyone can make one, Widdle can.

* * *

**Solas:** Have you ever given thought to collaborating together on a piece?  
**Sera:** Collaber-what? Piece of what?  
**Solas:** A painting, or a drawing if you prefer, what medium you decide upon makes little difference to me.  
**Sera:** You really think the two of us could work together on anything?  
**Solas:** I was under the impression we had been.  
**Sera:** That’s different. The Inquisition’s not an ‘us’ thing, or it is, but not _us_ us.

* * *

**Sera:** Say if I _wanted_ to make something with you, what’d we even make?  
**Solas:** You ask the question as if there are limitations.  
**Sera:** A dragon, then! No, wait, a butt!  
_(beat)_  
**Sera:** Nothing? Not even a nose wrinkle?  
**Solas:** I am not unopposed to the idea.  
**Sera:** Ugh, how can you even make butts boring?

* * *

**Sera:** _(handing him a drawing)_ Here, made you something.  
**Solas:** What is this? Are those-- shoes?  
**Sera:** That’s right. One for each toe. You’re welcome.

* * *

_Solas & Cullen_

**Cullen:** I’m curious how you’ve avoided Templars all these years.  
**Solas:** I would prefer not to say.  
**Cullen:** I’m no longer a Templar, you know.  
**Solas:** Then why do you still wear their heraldry? Or am I mistaken?  
**Cullen:** I…  
**Solas:** Templar or no, your support for its cause endures. I would not endanger fellow apostates by revealing our methods.

* * *

**Solas:** Master Tethras tells me you served in Kirkwall.  
**Cullen:** Varric has no shortage of stories, that one just so happens to be true. Why do you bring it up?  
**Solas:** My travels have taken me there, on occasion.  
**Cullen:** I admit, I’m curious what your impression was.  
**Solas:** All the world is steeped in tragedy, but in Kirkwall the Fade overflows with it. Spells flow from the fingertips with such ease you may forget the Veil altogether.  
**Cullen:** That doesn’t surprise me, the amount of abominations I saw during my years there…  
**Solas:** They were but a symptom. Kirkwall’s sickness ran deeper than what any one spirit could cure.

* * *

_Solas & Dorian_

**Dorian:** That book you have on your desk, Solas…  
**Solas:** There are many. Which are you referring to?  
**Dorian:** There’s one that looked to be in Ancient Tevene. Do you speak it, or are you just keeping it around to look clever?  
**Solas:** I would not go so far as to say I speak it, but I understand it well enough.  
**Dorian:** How did you go about learning it?  
**Solas:** Memories of Tevinter’s empire litter the land, there is hardly a place in Thedas where the world does not remember it, and with memories come language.  
**Dorian:** So you learned through the Fade?  
**Solas:** I did, though my pronunciation leaves something to be desired. An unfortunate consequence of learning any language alone.  
**Dorian:** I might be able to help, but only if you give me the satisfaction of hearing you muddle through it out loud beforehand. Also, I’ll be next in line when you’ve finished reading that book of yours.  
**Solas:** _(snorts)_ Very well.

* * *

_Solas & Blackwall/Thom Rainier_

_(after blackwall comments on fishing in the exalted plains)_

**Solas:** Do you consider yourself an angler, Blackwall?  
**Blackwall:** I wouldn’t go that far, but I do enjoy the sport of it.  
**Solas:** I’ve never considered it a sport.  
**Blackwall:** Probably because you’ve never gone fishing just for the fun of it. Next time we make camp, I’ll show you.

* * *

**Inquisitor:** So, how’d your fishing expedition go?  
**Blackwall:** You should’ve seen the size of the gar I wrangled.  
**Solas:** It was not half as impressive as he believes.  
**Blackwall:** He only says that because all’s he caught were minnows.  
**Solas:** _(scoffs)_  
**Inquisitor:** So... where is it?  
**Blackwall:** We threw it back, of course. Wasn’t like we were going to eat it.  
**Solas:** A convenient excuse.

* * *

_(on the storm coast - built off of a canon comment blackwall makes there)_

**Blackwall:** Ever heard of the pale ship that appears on the mists? The [Windy Marcher](https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Codex_entry:_In_the_Mists:_The_Windline_Marcher) – I think that’s what they called it.  
**Solas:** I cannot say I have.  
**Blackwall:** An old story, no idea where it started. Must’ve heard it a dozen times in the Free Marches, always a different ending.  
**Solas:** As is often the case with legends, the content and moral changes with the teller.  
**Blackwall:** One man claimed he’d seen it himself, said the ship was captained by beautiful spirits who’d called him to the sea.  
**Solas:** A case of wishful thinking, I assume.  
**Blackwall:** He was a bit of a lonely bastard.

* * *

_(after Revelations)_

**Solas:** You and Cole seem more friendly, of late.  
**Thom:** He took some getting used to, but his heart’s in the right place. There’s enough darkness in the world without pushing away the good.  
**Solas:** I imagine it was chilling, knowing he could break your cover on a whim.  
**Thom:** That did keep me up some nights, yes. Sometimes I wonder why he didn’t say anything.  
**Solas:** Perhaps he saw in you what the Inquisitor sees.  
**Thom:** Well, I’m grateful. On both counts.

* * *

_Solas & Morrigan_

**Solas:** You seem well-versed in courtly manners for a woman raised in the wilderness.  
**Morrigan:** What are you implying?  
**Solas:** That you have a talent for winding nobles around your finger, or that the infamous ‘game’ is not so deadly as they like to believe.  
**Vivienne:** Or that more talented souls paved the wave for her.  
**Solas:** Another possibility.  
**Morrigan:** ‘Tis true that Orlesians overestimate the challenge of this ‘Game’ of theirs. Empress Celene had her desires, and ‘twas a simple matter to keep her satisfied.  
**Vivienne:** Which is why you’re with us.  
**Morrigan:** With you at my side, I could not help but notice.  
**Vivienne:** Believe me, dear. Court enchanter is a trifle compared to where my sights have set.

* * *

**Solas:** I found your son atop the rotunda’s scaffolding today.  
**Morrigan:** He has long been fond of climbing, and Skyhold’s trees are too new to bear his weight.  
**Solas:** It was no harm. My only regret is I did not have an answer to every question he asked. He is a curious boy.  
**Morrigan:** _(laughs)_ That he is.

* * *

_(during What Pride Had Wrought, upon finding the mosaic of June)_

**Morrigan:** Ah, clever June. The most elusive of the elven gods, insofar as legends are concerned.  
**Solas:** Their silence is deafening.  
**Morrigan:** I take it you have insight?  
**Solas:** Merely that he does not deserve what little credit he is given. Time has forgotten the name of whosoever built the first aravel.

* * *

**Solas:** Rumour spread that Kieran went missing. I trust your presence here means you have found him?  
**Morrigan:** I… yes.  
**Solas:** He is unharmed?  
**Morrigan:** Yes.  
**Solas:** Then I am glad. And… you?  
**Morrigan:** I have much to think upon, but my son is safe. Everything else can come after.

* * *

_Solas & Cole_

**Cole:** So they’re nobody, but somebody. Empty shells, filled with someone else’s memory.  
**Solas:** For the most part, it seems.  
**Cole:** If they’re heartless, why are they so angry?  
**Solas:** Perhaps it was not so much the absence of feeling, but the lack of recognition of said feelings.  
**Cole:** Belief makes them real, even if they’ll always be different.

* * *

**Cole:** But why are there thirteen of him?  
**Solas:** I suppose it is as dramatic a number as there can be.

* * *

**Cole:** It remembered. Delight in discovery, always pushing further into the unknown-- someone like that does not simply _disappear_ , and yet... it cannot remember his name.  
**Solas:** Names are not so as important as the spirit of the person they belong to.  
**Cole:** It remembered the person. Sadder, but stronger. If I ever return to the Fade, I would like to meet it.  
**Solas:** Nothing would delight it more.  
**Cole:** Oh, I know. I think we’d be friends.

* * *

_(after the banter where Solas helps prevent a panic attack)_

**Cole:** You breathe in-- _one, two, three, four_ \-- then out-- _one, two, three, four_ \-- feel the grass beneath your feet, magic between your fingers, remember what is and what was. How long did it take you to learn?  
**Solas:** More time than is ideal.  
**Cole:** I’m sorry.  
**Solas:** There is some comfort in knowing I’ve learned enough to help others with such struggles.  
**Cole:** I’ll count with you, if you need.  
**Solas:** Thank you, Cole.

* * *

**Solas:** I’m curious how your efforts are coming along since we last spoke.  
**Cole:** Josephine misses how saffron tastes, but she hasn’t asked the chef to purchase any. I wrote it on a list when no one was watching. [Cullen](https://youtu.be/L1y3tXV7tkE?t=117) doesn’t like my letters. He says they don’t make sense.  
**Solas:** I cannot imagine he devoted much time to understanding them.  
**Cole:** No. Listening is... difficult, when you’ve been taught not to.

* * *

**Cole:** She loves him, but which him? There are two.  
**Solas:** Are they so different? All that separates them is the illusion of glory.  
_(if romanced)_  
**Blackwall:** _(on edge)_ What are you talking about?  
**Cole:** A memory. Don’t worry, it has a happy ending.  
**Blackwall:** Right...  
_(otherwise)_  
**Cole:** I don’t understand. Anyone can be born in a palace. Her blood is no different than his.  
**Solas:** No, not really, but the world around them sees it differently.

* * *

**Cole:** Eyes fall shut, but they do not drift away. Their feet are tethered, tied to the ground.  
**Solas:** Even dwarves who lived and died on the Surface never dreamed.  
**Cole:** But they are still remembered. The song drowns out their thoughts, but it does not smother them. If I listen, I can hear.  
**Solas:** I have seen fewer glimpses of dwarven history than I would like, but there are always memories preserved by particular attentive spirits.

* * *

_Solas & Cassandra  
  
(after receiving the quest Agrarian Apostate)_

**Cassandra:** And he was not even a mage. Shameful.  
**Solas:** Would have it been justified if he was?  
**Cassandra:** The Templars have sanction to punish apostates. It would not have been beyond their authority.  
**Solas:** I would not call that justified, merely legal.  
**Cassandra:** The Templars should be better.  
**Solas:** The Chantry armed them and gave them an enemy. That might fuel an army, but will only serve to poison their minds against innocent people, apostates or no.

* * *

_Solas & Vivienne_

_(after the events of Bring Me the Heart of Snow White)_

**Solas:** I heard the news of Duke De Ghislain’s death. As I understand it, the two of you were close. My condolences for your loss.  
_(if the Inquisitor gave Vivienne a regular wyvern’s heart)  
_**Vivienne:** _(coldly)_ There was a chance at saving him, but he is beyond saving, now. At least, by mortal hands.  
**Solas:** Then I am all the sorrier.  
_(otherwise)_  
**Vivienne:** He was at peace, and we had the chance to meet at least one last chance before he passed.  
**Solas:** Be thankful for that closure, it will bring you comfort in the days to come.  
**Vivienne:** It already has.

* * *

**Solas:** How do you feel about the moniker ‘Madame de Fer?’  
**Vivienne:** Oh, I think it’s darling. Why do you ask?  
**Solas:** Iron is cold, unyielding without the proper tools, some may use it as an insult rather than a mark of respect.  
**Vivienne:** Of that I’ve no doubt, but let them. I embraced it wholeheartedly, and from then on no one could ever truly use it against me.  
**Solas:** True enough, such a tactic has worked for others before.

* * *

**Vivienne:** You will be wearing shoes to the ball, won’t you?  
**Solas:** My comfort is not worth jeopardizing the Inquisition’s image, so yes.  
**Vivienne:** Many elven servants in Orlais go barefoot, it would hardly be a scandal. Still, it would be beneficial. We must all present as a unit when the time comes, not a single hair out of place.  
**Solas:** That will hardly pose a problem for the two of us.  
**Vivienne:** _(makes a sound **almost** like a laugh)_ Right you are.

* * *

_(after the beginning of And My Heart Cannot Be)_

**Vivienne:** I hope you know what you are doing, my dear. The Rite of Tranquility is not something easily undone.  
**Solas:** As I understand it, the Seekers did it quite regularly.  
**Vivienne:** And through a far gentler process. What they did to Ian was barbaric, but undoing it is not necessarily a kindness. One might even call it selfish.  
**Solas:** I never made any claim to selflessness.  
**Vivienne:** Go through with it, and he will relive what happened to him every morning and night for the rest of his life.  
**Solas:** _(strained anger)_ Do not pretend as though you suddenly care for his well-being now, you showed little regard for him before.  
**Vivienne:** It is a _warning_ , nothing more.  
**Solas:** Your warning is heeded, but it changes nothing. I am under no illusion this will be simple, but to give up on him now-- I would be no better than the Circle that once wanted this same fate for him.

* * *

**Solas:** There are rumours that your name be put forward as the next Divine.  
**Vivienne:** I wonder who might have started those.  
**Solas:** After all that has happened these past few months, you believe it possible they will accept a mage into their fold?  
_(if the Inquisitor completed In Hushed Whispers / is a mage)_  
**Vivienne:** Whyever not? Magic is what solved the problem, after all.  
**Solas:** Magic has solved countless problems over the centuries, and yet it is still reviled.  
**Vivienne:** I am not any ordinary mage. If any mage can achieve status of Divine, I am she.  
**Solas:** On that, we agree.  
_(if the Inquisitor completed Champions of the Just and is a non-mage)_  
**Vivienne:** With the Inquisitor’s support there is nothing I cannot accomplish, my dear.

* * *

**Vivienne:** The Inquisitor gave you that hood not half a day ago and it already has a hole in it.  
**Solas:** Two, in fact.  
**Vivienne:** Are you afraid we’ll forget you’re an elf if we go five minutes without seeing your ears?  
**Solas:** My estimation of your abilities is not that low, Enchanter, and I would be careful were I you. Two holes cut in a hood is not nearly as desperate as donning a pair of horns every morning.

* * *

_Solas & Varric_

_(after killing the Templars during the quest Agrarian Apostate)_

**Varric:** I thought at least away from Kirkwall I could get away from crazy Templars.  
**Solas:** You believe they were mad? The men I saw were no different from those who confronted us in Val Royeaux.

* * *

_(after delivering the ring)_

**Solas:** She seems to be holding up well, considering.  
**Varric:** Yeah, but I know a front when I see one.  
**Solas:** You believe she was suffering more than she let on?  
**Varric:** Oh, I know it, Chuckles. That ring might comfort her when the country gets too quiet, but it won’t dry her tears or– shit, do much else, really.  
**Solas:** Some wounds only time heal.  
**Varric:** And they always seem to leave ugly scars.

* * *

_(after beginning Here Lies the Abyss)_

**Solas:** You found Hawke after all.  
**Varric:** Oh, you know. All those heroics jogged my memory.  
**Solas:** Naturally.  
**Varric:** What, you going to lay into me, too?  
**Solas:** No, no. I understand why you hesitated.  
_(if Hawke is a mage)  
_**Solas:** To involve her in a Chantry organisation would not have been wise, at least before it had a chance to prove itself.  
_(otherwise)  
_**Solas:** Given her involvement in this war, I can only imagine there are those on both sides who would blame her for their present predicament.  
**Varric:** You mind telling all that to Cassandra?  
**Solas:** I would prefer not to.

* * *

_(in the Hissing Wastes, while exploring dwarven ruins)_

**Varric:** I’m surprised you’re not hounding me about how all this makes me feel, Chuckles.  
**Solas:** I had thought we established your disinterest.  
**Varric:** Yeah, well. I’m thinking about it, anyway.  
**Solas:** If you insist. How _does_ this make you feel, Varric?  
**Varric:** There’s a tiny part of me that’s really satisfied, you know? Seeing a Paragon of all people living on the Surface, then the rest of me just doesn’t give a shit.  
**Solas:** Tradition is a difficult thing to shake, to be conflicted is expected. Do you think our discovery here ought to be shared with Orzammar?  
**Varric:** I don’t know about Orzammar, but I can think of a few Surface dwarves who’d be interested in this.

* * *

_(after Here Lies the Abyss, if Hawke is left behind)_

**Solas:** I have read your book, you know. The Tale of the Champion.  
**Varric:** I don’t know if now’s the best time.  
**Solas:** I understand. I only wanted to say that in reading it, I felt your affection for Hawke in every word. I am... sorry, for what happened.  
**Varric:** Thanks, Chuckles.  
**Solas:** Of course.

* * *

_(after Here Lies the Abyss, if Hawke survives)_

**Solas:** You said your farewells to Hawke?  
**Varric:** Sure did. Sent letters home, debated sending letters to Weisshaupt. The Wardens will need to know the storm coming their way.  
**Solas:** You believe Hawke will pose a problem?  
**Varric:** Well, maybe not on purpose.

* * *

_Solas & Renn_

**Solas:** Tell me, Lieutenant, why did you remain with the Legion?  
**Renn:** Having trouble seeing why it’s your business. Why d’you ask?  
**Solas:** Escaping would be a simple matter of finding the right battle to slip away from. Freedom would only be a few day’s journey from where we stand.  
**Renn:** I couldn’t abandon my men... or my city.  
**Solas:** You show great loyalty to Orzammar, considering you will never see it again.  
**Renn:** Yeah, well. You never forget your home.  
**Solas:** No. I suppose you don’t.

* * *

_Solas & Valta_

**Solas:** “But the truth is the truth-- no matter how political it may be.”  
**Valta:** Do you disagree?  
**Solas:** Just the opposite. The truth does not change with our ability to stomach it. I am glad a historian such as yourself agrees.  
**Valta:** A shame the rest of the Shaperate doesn’t agree with us.  
**Solas:** True, but if they had you would not be here, on the brink of uncovering secrets buried centuries ago. In their attempt to keep you out of the way, they unknowingly set you upon the path to even greater knowledge.  
**Valta:** Orzammar will know the truth. If I don’t make it, then the Inquisitor--  
**Solas:** You are not yet dead, Shaper Valta. Do not count yourself apart from the living so soon.


End file.
